Crashing prices
A Tea Addict's Journal
by MarshalN
1M ago
A couple years ago I posted about an outing with a friend to go to the local Dayi store to drink new 7542s (I think I deleted the image by accident). The tl;dr is that they’re very average and way too expensive. Now, two and half years later, we have this: This is a screencap from Donghe which shows you prices of puerh. For the 2020 7542, which reached a peak of around 50,000 RMB/jin (42 cakes) we are down to around 29,000 RMB. It’s still really expensive at over 600 RMB a cake, but nowhere near the peak. I’d also imagine prices will continue to fall as the quality simply isn’t there. More im ..read more
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Good baseline tea
A Tea Addict's Journal
by MarshalN
8M ago
I just spent a month in Taiwan doing research and other things. It was spent almost entirely in Taipei, so there wasn’t much time to go to the tea farms or anything. I did do some tea shopping, revisiting old haunts and finding new ones. A shop ran by someone who’s been there since he was 16 (now 75) is, for example, a pretty fun place to go, and a witness to all the changes to the tea industry there in the past two generations. As food in Taiwan is invariably pretty cheap and the rental apartment kitchen subpar, I ate out a lot. Food comes with drinks in sets, and more often than not, it’s te ..read more
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Packing teapots
A Tea Addict's Journal
by MarshalN
1y ago
So…. this is how I pack my teapots for moving. You buy those butcher paper – enough to wrap them all. Then, just simply wrap the pot with the paper – usually trying to get a sheet between the lid and the body, so it’s at least cushioned if not snug. Although, take care not to be too snug – you could, theoretically, crush your lid that way if you try to force it in and the lid is tight to begin with. Thankfully, with my loose lids, that’s rarely an issue. Then you just put them in the box – the point is to 1) stop the pots from touching anything else and 2) cushion it enough so that there’s no ..read more
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A year long hiatus
A Tea Addict's Journal
by MarshalN
1y ago
Last time I wrote a post here was July 2021. That’s more than a year ago and the longest break I’ve taken from this blog. Since the pandemic started, I’ve been mostly busy dealing with various projects of mine, the most important of which is what you see above – the publication of my first book. I just got my own copies a couple days ago, which is pretty exciting. It’s also a long, long way away from when I first started this blog when I was merely a second year grad student. That year, I first started conceiving of this project that ended in this book, so in a way, it’s a nice milestone. My ..read more
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2019-2021 7542s
A Tea Addict's Journal
by MarshalN
1y ago
Yesterday I went with a friend of mine to a local Dayi store to drink the new 7542s. We had three – from 2019 to 2021 (left to right). The reason we went is simple – the new 7542s are priced to the heavens. The new 7542 this year, for example, is well over 1000 RMB a cake. On Taobao it is selling for roughly 1500+ per cake, which is about $230 USD. The green wrapper version of the 7542 from last year is now double that at 3000+. It was a “special” year, some 80th anniversary cake, basically. The 2019 is about the same price as the 2021. None of these prices make any sense. They especially don ..read more
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Restaurant tea service
A Tea Addict's Journal
by MarshalN
1y ago
You are at a beautiful restaurant, the dinner was very good, and you’re satisfied. Dessert is coming, and the server comes around and asks you “coffee or tea?” Being a civilized person, of course you said tea. Then, they come right back and bring you what I call the box of doom And your heart sinks, because, well, you know. Now, granted, if you’re at some fancy place, chances are they won’t do this kind of injustice to you. Instead, they’ll have a few menu options for you to choose from. But more often than not, as a non-flavoured, caffeinated tea drinker, the options are usually English brea ..read more
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Yixing Inventory #25: Gemingchang
A Tea Addict's Journal
by MarshalN
1y ago
As I said last time, I have a few of these. This one is bigger, with a slightly more purple colour, but largely the same shape otherwise. Since having seen a lot of these, Gemingchang pots tend to look very similar in many ways, just coming in different sizes. 140ml ..read more
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Yixing Inventory #24: Nameless rough pot 1
A Tea Addict's Journal
by MarshalN
1y ago
This was my very first pot of this type. These rough, badly finished clay pots that are rather porous in nature. I’ve since acquire more of them, but this is the one I used for years for young pu. I bought this pot in 2008. It’s been used for young pu since then, although the past couple years it’s been left mostly on the shelf as I used other pots. Maybe I should bring it out again for some work. 110ml ..read more
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Yixing Inventory #22: Mengchen
A Tea Addict's Journal
by MarshalN
1y ago
I have a feeling I need to come up with something for the titles, otherwise there’s going to be a lot of “Mengchen” in this. This is a pot with a nice, smooth clay, a “Mengchen” chop at the bottom, and not much else. It’s large, 160ml. One of those that I cleaned and actually (once in a while) use. I should put it back in rotation ..read more
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Yixing Inventory #21: Mengchen
A Tea Addict's Journal
by MarshalN
1y ago
Another typical “Mengchen” marked pot, which basically means nothing. These are wood chops, supposedly popular in the late Qing/Early Republic era. The pot is an interesting purple brown, with a smooth skin. The lid is very loose on this one, sitting a bit awkwardly on the pot, but it is otherwise quite functional. 130ml ..read more
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