Appreciate that you can see that we are trying our best to be honest about what we offer. I would never intentionally distort information about tea origin, tree age, tea age, etc to make a sale. Like my Dad used to say "I'm not the dumbest kid on the block, but I'm not the smartest either". In other words, my customers are generally smart people. It's good to assume that they either know or will figure out when they are being lied to. Building a business on a foundation built of deception is just plain stupid! Will be interesting to see where this 'niche market' is in 10 years. People are so much more educated about tea than ever before!
Great video... thanks Scott! I'm still new to Pu-erh teas (last 3 months), and it is a steep learning curve, especially due to the language differences. Hence, I really appreciate videos like this that break down some of these concepts. I honestly didn't know what old arbor was until this video... I thought it was a plantation or a mountain!
This is great Scott! I really like the section starting at 6:20 where you describe the experience of drinking various tea's. I personally am rarely helped by the descriptions using flavors and smells, as I don't end up having those experiences very often. I can definitely tell quality, both by taste and body feel, but I don't know how to express the experience in words so anyone would understand, and then they might have a different experience when drinking the tea!
+UnderwaterSurfer Agreed it's hard to put into words. I feel like drinking tea (especially good tea) is more about the overall feeling in the mouth, throat and body as a whole. There are flavors... but they are unlike food items or other "beverages".
What I taste in tea, is almost never the same as the descriptions, or what other people claim to taste out of it. Always made me feel like I was doing something wrong, lol.
Very informative as always. I didn't know about Camellia taliensis. I had thought all Yunnan tea was assamica. Shows how little I know. I'll pick up some taliensis from YS next order.
Is there something equivalent to wine appelation related to slope (considered ideal for growing grapes)? Premier Cru tends to be towards top of the slopes, Grand Cru is in the middle, and Village is sort of at the bottom of the slope. Does tea (and puerh) have a similar designation?
Question: About to place my first YS order, and I'm wondering if you have any specific recommendations for samplers? I'm a tea newbie, having only tried 3-4 loose leafs ranging from low to medium quality teas, and I want to just be blown away with 2-3 different samplers of different types of tea, but I can't decide. I love Black/Oolong/Green tea and have never tried White or Puerh. My favorite parts of Black tea are the honey/malty sweetness and my favorite parts of Oolong are the floral aspects, but that's all I know. Any insight for where I should start would mean a lot, I'm super stoked to start my tea journey and learning all I can about Tea. Thanks for reading this :D
Hi, Glad you're looking into placing an order with us! As you can see, we offer a wide range of teas for you to sample. From our Curated Samplers, I think you may enjoy trying a Black Tea Sampler, an Oolong Sampler and a Pu-erh Sampler. I'll also post the link for the White Tea Sampler. You can read the descriptions and see if any of the flavors sound good to you! Enjoy your tea experience! Black: Scott's Private Stash Yunnan Black Tea Sampler Oolong: Dan Cong Oolong Tea Sampler * Spring 2017 Harvest Pu-erh: Menghai Tea Factory "Classic Recipes" Ripe Pu-erh Tea Sampler White: "First Flush" White Tea Sampler * Spring 2017
This is why I buy tea exclusively from you, Scott. Integrity shows through in spades as opposed to some other "social" tea vendors.
Appreciate that you can see that we are trying our best to be honest about what we offer. I would never intentionally distort information about tea origin, tree age, tea age, etc to make a sale. Like my Dad used to say "I'm not the dumbest kid on the block, but I'm not the smartest either". In other words, my customers are generally smart people. It's good to assume that they either know or will figure out when they are being lied to. Building a business on a foundation built of deception is just plain stupid! Will be interesting to see where this 'niche market' is in 10 years. People are so much more educated about tea than ever before!
Awesome Q/ A!
Crazy knowledge Sir. Delving into the intricacies of tea with our man in Yunnan!
+Green Tea Guru ;-)
You are awesome Tea Guru.
Great video... thanks Scott! I'm still new to Pu-erh teas (last 3 months), and it is a steep learning curve, especially due to the language differences. Hence, I really appreciate videos like this that break down some of these concepts. I honestly didn't know what old arbor was until this video... I thought it was a plantation or a mountain!
+heychas Glad to clear things up for you. Alot of variety both in age of teas, varietal and style of picking (and of course the taste).
A steep learning curve... I see what you did there...
This is great Scott! I really like the section starting at 6:20 where you describe the experience of drinking various tea's. I personally am rarely helped by the descriptions using flavors and smells, as I don't end up having those experiences very often. I can definitely tell quality, both by taste and body feel, but I don't know how to express the experience in words so anyone would understand, and then they might have a different experience when drinking the tea!
+UnderwaterSurfer Agreed it's hard to put into words. I feel like drinking tea (especially good tea) is more about the overall feeling in the mouth, throat and body as a whole. There are flavors... but they are unlike food items or other "beverages".
What I taste in tea, is almost never the same as the descriptions, or what other people claim to taste out of it. Always made me feel like I was doing something wrong, lol.
I really appreciate your taking the time to share your tea knowledge. I've revisited this video several times when evaluating teas.
+Theo Wilson I'd eventually like to do another one with more photos and video close-ups.
Very informative as always. I didn't know about Camellia taliensis. I had thought all Yunnan tea was assamica. Shows how little I know. I'll pick up some taliensis from YS next order.
+Callum Makkai Alot of naturally occuring hybrids and sub types of Assamica in addition to Sinensis, Taliensis, Pubilimba, and Dehongensis.
Amazing information and pictures, love it!
Is there something equivalent to wine appelation related to slope (considered ideal for growing grapes)? Premier Cru tends to be towards top of the slopes, Grand Cru is in the middle, and Village is sort of at the bottom of the slope. Does tea (and puerh) have a similar designation?
No... nothing like that happening in Yunnan. We are decades away from anything like that.
Hey great video, thank you.
Is that a clay kettle? Where did you get it?
Taiwan Sourcing - Anta Clay Kettle
Question: About to place my first YS order, and I'm wondering if you have any specific recommendations for samplers? I'm a tea newbie, having only tried 3-4 loose leafs ranging from low to medium quality teas, and I want to just be blown away with 2-3 different samplers of different types of tea, but I can't decide. I love Black/Oolong/Green tea and have never tried White or Puerh. My favorite parts of Black tea are the honey/malty sweetness and my favorite parts of Oolong are the floral aspects, but that's all I know. Any insight for where I should start would mean a lot, I'm super stoked to start my tea journey and learning all I can about Tea. Thanks for reading this :D
Hi,
Glad you're looking into placing an order with us! As you can see, we offer a wide range of teas for you to sample. From our Curated Samplers, I think you may enjoy trying a Black Tea Sampler, an Oolong Sampler and a Pu-erh Sampler. I'll also post the link for the White Tea Sampler. You can read the descriptions and see if any of the flavors sound good to you! Enjoy your tea experience!
Black: Scott's Private Stash Yunnan Black Tea Sampler
Oolong: Dan Cong Oolong Tea Sampler * Spring 2017 Harvest
Pu-erh: Menghai Tea Factory "Classic Recipes" Ripe Pu-erh Tea Sampler
White: "First Flush" White Tea Sampler * Spring 2017
This video doesn't seem to be loading for me. Anyone else has this? 🙁
Loads ok for me.
I thought I had it before. Works on PC now. Funny you're talking about old trees looking so young 😉
Lol @ 19:05. A truly blind taste test!