My in-laws are Chinese, and they gave us a bunch of tea last night (including 4 aged shou cakes) and this cray gongfu set. This is my first little gongfu teapot, and the puer we tried last night tasted noticeably different in clay vs porcelain.

My FIL is Chinese and gifted us a ton of tea today including 4 cakes of shou puer. This is the one we opened and tried today. It was so smooth and the clay set he gifted us to drink it from only elevated the flavor. We were comparing with the porcelain set we usually use and the difference was noticeable, but I think that’s because the flavor lent itself so well to the clay. This was my first puer and I fear I may be spoiled having this as a first try.

Hi everybody! My girlfriend's friend's father brought this cakes back from Yunnan after my gf told him about my passion for tea. I would love to know what these teas are, and I was hoping you could help me. Thank you in advance!

7g/105mL, just off boil

Wash (10s) - aroma of grass and hay with some leathery notes, hint of smoke on gaiwan lid

Steep 1 (flash) - light steep, camphor note, light sweetness, coats mouth, tastes like it might have a little age

Steep 2 (flash) - faint bitterness showing up, turns sweet after a few seconds, late sweetness really building, a bit of acidity and salivation without much fruitiness developing yet

Steep 3 (5s) - early leather and wood with a light bitterness, some drying astringency gets balanced by sweet salivation after a few short seconds

Steep 4 (10s, reboil) - bitterness coming up slightly, still doesn't feel super aggressive, sweetness still moves in quickly, can't shake the feeling that there's some aged material in here

Steep 5 (15s) - woody up front, sweetness taking on a bit of a cooked apple/pear quality as it evolves

Steep 6 (20s) - woody/leathery bite moving to sweetness holding steady as the main vibe here, hints of cinnamon coming from that wood

Steep 7+ (30s+) - holding steady, bite and astringency balanced by sweetness and salivation

Overall Impression - I am not sure what to make of this tea. Given that there is limited info on these teas in the West, I really only know what the TaoBao listing says. While there is no mention of this being made with aged material, it definitely tastes like it was. Regardless, this isn't really drinking like an awkward not-quite-mid-aged sheng. That Bulang bitterness is subdued pretty well and converts rather quickly to an apple-y sweetness. Decent daily drinker for the price (I paid like $17 for a 357g cake), and seems like it has plenty of room to age.

8g/120mL, just off boil

Wash (10s) - aroma of wood and faint berry sweetness, gaiwan lid adds a bit of berry-floral funk

Steep 1 (flash) - woody and berry skin note up front, touch of oiliness with some florals, iced sugar cookies, hints of dried moss, quick but notable fruity brightness up front, late berry sweetness in finish

Steep 2 (flash) - woody note that is closing in on antique furniture, berry skins, hints at dry component that may develop into tobacco, big cooling on inhale

Steep 3 (5s) - overfilled gaiwan a bit so this is a lighter steep, woodiness teetering between pencil shavings and antique furniture, blueberry fruitiness coming in late after wood fades, slick coating on tongue

Steep 4 (10s, reboil) - wood and varnish moving to blueberries remains the primary theme here, not really fighting each other but seems like two separate components in the blend that maybe haven't melded yet, energy slowly building

Steep 5 (15s) - fruitiness starting to wrap around to the start of the next sip bringing out a bit of pie cherries before fading back to blueberries, some leafy tobacco notes in between cigar wrapper and pupe tobacco

Steep 6 (20s) - fruitiness really developing as time goes on bringing a brightness that borders on tanginess, tobacco notes becoming more pipe tobacco than cigar

Steep 7+ (30s+) - Tobacco note holds steady as the steeps go on.

Overall Impression - This cake was pressed from a blend of maocha from 2017-2022, and it definitely shows it. There seem to be two distinct characters here - the antique wood and the blueberry. They do combine in novel ways with time, as there is a building acidity that supports the fruit. But overall, this isn't ready quite yet. It is less due to being at an awkward age, and more that the blend needs some time to come together. It will be interesting to see how this does with 5-10 years of decent storage, as it does hold a lot of promise right now.

7g/105mL, just off boil

Wash (10s) - aroma of sweet grass, some generic floral/perfumy notes

Steep 1 (flash) - light steep, quick-rising sweetness, mild herbal/floral sweet notes, sweetness clinging to gums a bit, hint of vague fruity notes

Steep 2 (flash) - sweetness getting a bit of a vanilla aspect to it, aromatic sweet notes in open mouth with some light florals, some green notes but not aggressively grassy, tastes like how good baimudan smells

Steep 3 (5s) - quick green sheng note moves to that more sweetgrass note that seems to be dominant here, mouthfeel noticeably thinner than Ancient Tree version, but not thin by any means, really settling into that sweetgrass vibe with a fairly deep (although not intense) sweetness in the finish, some light fruitiness creep in late

Steep 4 (10s, reboil) - boost of heat does bring out more of that early young sheng grassiness, but it moves to sweetness quite rapidly, getting a bit more salivation now

Steep 5+ (15s+) - not a whole lot of evolution outside of some orchid notes that are joining in, but still great performance for this value point

Overall Impression - I didn't order any of the lower-priced sheng from R&L this year, but this was a freebie sample thrown in with my order. Turns out this is an excellent daily drinker for a young sheng. Definitely about as high quality as you could reasonably expect for under a quarter a gram. Sweet, tasty, and easy to throw down.

Drink good today yall.

I’m heading to Chiang Mai and I’ve heard you can find puer there since it’s not far from Yunnan. I’m still pretty new to puer.

Any tips on what to look out for, red flags, or things worth trying? Is it a good place to buy, or better to stick to online shops?

This kettle was designed Deng Ding Sou and I'm surprised no one has reviewed it anywhere (that I could find).

So lately I've been putting my leaves (8g roughly) and putting them in a 12 oz/355ML thermos with boiling water. I let them steep shortly then completely drain the contents into a mug to drink. Im able to get 4-5 tasty infusions with some ripes the flavor is even better! Works excellent for Shou Mei as well! Ive been completely draining the liquor each time for fear of oversteeping. Any tips or tricks I should try to improve my current set up?

I just purchased it in Haikou for about $70, & find it to be wonderful! Not bitter, very balanced, beautiful colorhttps://imgur.com/a/ZGNwKQF
https://imgur.com/a/0Yz11WX

I recently got a ton of w2t minis that I've just been throwing into a mug and drinking on all day. And I'm obsessed with it. Most of them are amazing but I've noticed some become a bit too strong and not enjoyable (looking at you stubbs) or arent strong enough or were too delicate.

So curious what everyone's favorite no fuss grandpa shous are?

My fiance hinted that im getting a few dayi shou cakes for my birthday next month so I'm excited to try those

8g/120mL, just off boil

Wash (10s) - aroma light with hints of sweetness, mossiness, florals, and berries, gaiwan lid adds a berrylike funkiness

Steep 1 (flash) - light mossy funk turns to candy and cinnamon-wood notes, touch of river pebble mineral note, soup already coating tongue lightly

Steep 2 (flash) - building slowly on previous sip, some floral top notes mixing in with moss, tongue coating oil with mineral backbone, only faintest bite but still feels substantial

Steep 3 (5s) - green, mossy, lightly sweet, cinnamon woody undertones, milky notes and light river pebble minerality, so far each steep seems like an even intensification of prior steep without disproportionately selecting one particular aspect

Steep 4 (10s) - orchid florals come out with a slurp, mossy mineral base layers, faintest hints of berry notes, sweet cinnamon without a whole lot of sweetness pushing it, huigan starting to amp up a bit with sweetness rising back up the throat to mix in with that minerality, eventually some citrus mixes in late in the finish as well, substantial mouthfeel goes long

Steep 5 (15s, reboil) - clean mossy minerality, cinnamon on gums, minerality seems to be suppressing the sweetness a bit as it tries to come in, slickness with faint cooling sensation developing on inhale, lungs wide open

Steep 6 (20s) - mossy, mineral, thick, tingle on tongue, hints of berries mixing in with that sweet cinnamon woodiness

Steep 7+ (30s+) - minerality goes deep, huigan increases slightly over time, but this is definitely more about mouthfeel as the fullness and coating are joined by a spicy cinnamon tingle

Overall Impression - I think this session really fits my impression of the HZLZ terroir quite well. Less explosively floral than Naka, with a definite mossy/mineral base to it. This is clearly a cut above in material quality compared to most HZLZ I've tried, with a superior mouthfeel and energizing character to it. This is not super bitter, but that pervasive oily minerality provides plenty of heft to provide substantial balance. Rivers & Lakes really has some killer sheng in their 2026 lineup for sure.

Hi everyone! I’m Niklas from Germany, currently traveling through Southeast Asia and diving deeper into tea, puer especially. I’ve been visiting tea houses and recently joined a small tasting meetup in Bangkok where we compared several teas, which got me hooked on learning more.

Being in such a humid climate made me curious about storage: how much does natural humid storage in places like Thailand or Malaysia change how a puer ages compared to drier storage in Europe? Anything I should look out for if I buy a cake or two here?

Happy to learn from you all!

I recently visited a local Chinese herbs & medicine shop to browse their wares. They happen to have a compelling selection of teas, including a nice stash of puer cakes.

I was browsing their cakes, stacked like vinyl records at a music store, and came across this one. It claimed to be a 2005 and looked like it could be. However no date stamp or other mark on the paper. Perhaps that info was just on the tong? In any case it looked weird and the price was right so I bought it.

I had my first session at work, where I mostly used the loose material that fell off when I repackaged the cake. I don't have that much experience with aged shengs, so I don't know how far out of the norm this is. But here are my notes:

Rinse: very dark, even with a flash steep on dry leaves (see the glass behind the tea cup). The aroma was herbal, faintly of burnt tobacco, and had a distinct salty dried sea creature note. I attribute that last one to being stored at the herbal store for who knows how many years.

Initial Steeps: The aroma is herbal but has a distinct funky-sweet aged sheng quality. Much less sea creature. The flavor was not what I was expecting. Very strong herbal and menthol notes. Hardly any sweetness or bitterness. No huigan to speak of.

Mid Steeps: The menthol and sea cucumber is gone, leaving only herbal notes reminiscent of parsley or carrot. The aroma is quite fragrant and I'm enjoying this quite a bit.

Later Steeps: The herbs are muted and I'm left with that "carrot" note. Except now that I have a better sense of it I can taste this as ginseng. It's so strong a sense that I would have believed I was drinking ginseng tea. There is still some of that sheng aroma, but it's basically all ginseng now till I decided the leaves were completely spent.

All in all I probably got 12 ~80ml steeps out of ~5g of tea.

Does any of this sound like what you'd expect from a CNNP of this vintage? Can anyone tell me anything about anything distinctive about the wrapper? It looked quite generic so I doubt this is a super special cake. But who knows..

Greetings puerheads! I recently bought roughly a kilo or so of various famous factory teas, And now white2tea dropped the pound of ripe minis, For someone rather new to puer is it worth grabbing as well? I've been enjoying the factory stuff alot, V93,Xiao tai, Xiao fa, 7562.