In April 2020, we launched a 2 week challenge to explore as much pu'erh as humanly possible -- and in the process, we saw some interesting trends in our drinking habits. Here's what we found. Ask a bunch of hardcore tea folk to drink pu'erh for two weeks, and you get a LOT of pu'erh. 287, to be exact. We analyzed the data (see "Methodology" below for the details on that) to see if we could learn something about some age-old pu'erh debates. What's better: sheng or shou? Does pu'erh age really matter? Our sessions had some things to say about all that... - Pu'erh Types As many of you know, there are two types of pu'erh: sheng (raw) and shou (raw). In a nutshell, sheng pu'erh tend to be more bright, vibrant, and mineral tasting, especially when young, since they ferment slowly over time. Shou pu'erh, on the other hand, undergo an accelerated fermentation and have more of those smooth, earthy and almost-soil like flavors. They are two very different teas that happen to …
Archive
Below are all our handy guides, articles, and experiments about tea. Explore tea & tea culture, and learn about tea brewing and service.
The Pu’erh Love Challenge
I know what you might be thinking. “Pu’erh Love”? Really, Rie? Why does our cool new challenge gotta sound like some cheesy tea brand? Oh trust me, it sounds REALLY cheesy to me too. (Ito En's oh-so-trendy matcha LOVE brand comes to mind. Up next: Shou on the Go™, the pu’erh for the busy modern tea lover.) But honestly, there’s no better name for this thing than Pu'erh Love, because: If you love pu’erh, this is going to be your favorite 2 weeks ever. If you don’t love pu’erh, well, there’s the challenge. It's no secret that pu'erh can be a bit intimidating to get into, and even more intimidating once you discover how much more there is to learn. But to take on any tea, all we gotta do is taste. And whether you're a pu'erh newbie or a hardcore pu head who's already elbows deep, that's what I'm going to ask you to do for the next two weeks: from April 1 to April 15, drink as much pu'erh as you possibly can and taste, listen, and learn. How To …
The Green Tea Drink Down Challenge: Data & Takeaways from 120+ Tea Sessions
In March 2020, we drank some old green teas and learned some things from more than 120 tea sessions. Here’s what happened. In late February, I noticed that a lot of green teas were popping up on the Tea Curious Discord. Two of our tea friends in particular, Tyler (HakunaMaatallah) and Henrique (HenriquePaschoal), gave me the heads up. They pointed out that last year's green teas would be coming up on a year soon, so it was high time to drink the, with the new spring harvest greens coming and all. I'd been away from home the last few springs, so I'd totally forgotten about all that. And that got me wondering: How many green teas did I have left in my tea stash? I had Steven check. Crrrrringe. I knew it was gonna be a lot. A few years back, I'd gone on a massive green tea buying spree in an attempt to learn more about Chinese greens, only to suddenly be away from home a lot and not really drinking down any of them. So my guess was around 70, maybe 80 green teas. …
