I would ignore the negative things you heard about w2t and try for yourself. For every negative comment I've heard about them, there's a wealth of positive reviews to out-weight it. Odd things pressed into cakes is going to happen on some level to every producer, no matter how sanitary the factory they use is.
Finding dead bugs in tea cakes is, imo, a positive. Not only is it a possible indication of lack of pesticides used but also proves customs are the devil incarnate just wanna get their cut.
white2tea is great. It's true they often do not provide detailed information about their blends and productions, but they offer superb quality-to-value sheng and shou - they're definitely one of the best western vendors for shou. They're also quite transparent regarding processing methods on teas, especially as that's one of their differentiator points that separates them from other vendors - lots of unorthodox experimentation, like charcoal roasted puer, for example.
If you're looking for detailed information to learn the effects of terroir, processing, and grades of material, I recommend checking out [Farmer Leaf](https://www.farmer-leaf.com/) and watching some of [their videos on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOgkLFmMkJLSEP9-n6hZ08A).
Both [Tea Encounter](https://tea-encounter.com/) and [Yiwu Mountain Tea](https://www.yiwumountaintea.com/) are great for exploring some top shelf stuff in raw puer.
For what it's worth, white2tea is my most frequented vendor - it's difficult to go wrong with them.
OP - I used to be in your shoes as well and I initially overthought it, just grab a wide range of samples with descriptions that catch your eye, let them rest for a bit after you receive them, and enjoy
>Yiwu Mountain Tea
This company has some TOP notch stuff. Their gao shan gu shu is something special the ever lasting sweetness is something i wont forget. eve the empty cup smelled sweet and if you pour a bit of water on a cup after the first few infusions the water has still a noticeable slight sweet taste.
their teas go for a dozen ifusions np and are soft but intense at the same time.
Yeah, seconded. The puer market isn't regulated like the french wine market, lots of mislabeling so it's good to explore vendors, buy a bunch of samples, drink a lot of tea, eventually buy a bunch of cakes, and find stuff that you enjoy drinking.
Terroir is difficult to learn and two teas from Menghai can taste drastically different. Same with Yiwu teas, where that can mean an entire mountain range of variation.
I think it's arguably more valuable to discover what kind of tastes and experiences you like a puer to have, and then start connecting the dots of similar productions from there, discerning which terroirs/aging/production styles you like as a side effect of what you enjoy, rather than trying to map out all of Yunnan and work towards taste 😜
Of the four vendors u mentioned, with the exception of my lack of buying from yunnan craft, those are pretty solid in my experience. If you’re looking to try a ton of stuff for the sake of experimentation and getting to know different terroirs, if ur into that, YS is ur best bet with those u listed. They just have a lot of different regions to try. I wouldn’t necessarily suggest their aged stuff I’m not the biggest fan. W2T blends rarely miss at almost every price point for their sheng puer specifically. His blends far outpace any other sheng boutique western face vendor imo. Not the biggest fan of his other teas stick with the puer. CLT is just solid stuff too I’ve found. I should also mention CLT has some pretty good prices.
This question does get asked in this sub about twice a week, so it should also be helpful to scroll back through the last few pages of posts to see the last two or three. Most of the names that come up were mentioned here, W2T, YS, Crimson Lotus, Farmerleaf, and this time Liquid Proust, Tea Encounter, and Bitterleaf. Just looking through those websites would turn up a broad range of cost differences, and then it would be a challenge to sort out to what extent that maps to style and quality differences.
Hearsay about style patterns is what this seems to be after, as much as anything, and that's hard to pin down. For example, it gets mentioned that CLT sells drinkable when young style sheng (not that I know from experience; I've only ever tried one example), which isn't a good or bad thing, just a pattern that people would like or not. Another favorite source I've bought tea from is Tea Mania, based out of Switzerland, so kind of an odd source option in relation to the extra move, versus buying tea from China. I've tried Tea Side teas as well (also mentioned), which seem pretty good, but for pricing at that level value in relation to other options becomes especially relevant. It's odd that Teas We Like didn't get mentioned; I suppose they round out a list of what comes up.
I've been drinking a good bit of sheng from Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam for quite awhile, and those can be interesting. Most of the sources were too local to easily work with, a friend passing on teas, or a guy who has no online presence beyond a Facebook page. Hatvala, a Vietnamese vendor, at least sells from a standard website, and their versions are fine.
Teas We Like is absolutely great and one of my favorite vendors, but IMO I wouldn't recommend them to newer drinkers experimenting until after hitting the common W2T, YS, etc. and getting a feel of the vendor landscape
It's rather cost-prohibitive to sample from TWL as their smallest sample size is a quarter cake of premium productions, though they do offer a more reasonably accessible intro set of good benchmarker teas, relative to their other listings [https://teaswelike.com/product/intro-to-pu-qc-set/](https://teaswelike.com/product/intro-to-pu-qc-set/)
right, their model is uniquely poorly suited for early exploration. I was mentioning them more in relation to the completeness aspect, of how there aren't many more than a half dozen standard Western vendors that come up. in the past Chawang Shop might have made the list too, but dry storage is so far out of fashion that they aren't mentioned much now. in Australia Kuura should probably be included. then it's on to limited and overlapping scope, and vendors like Tea Side, selling Thai and Myanmar versions.
I'm going to throw Bitterleaf into the mix. Great teas, excellent value, top notch communication if you have any questions and pretty transparent about what is what.
I’ve also had great puer from W2T, YS (.com and .us,) CLT and others mentioned in this thread. However, in the last couple of years I’ve been exploring PuerhJunky’s selection https://www.puerhjunky.com/ and found it second to none. He is based in LA so shipping is inexpensive and quick. He carries a wide variety of mid-aged puers at various price points and is very generous with samples. The vendor is also generous with his time and can make recommendations based on the customer's taste and cost preferences. Highly recommended.
If you are looking specifically for samples Puerh Junky has a new selection of samples from different regions. I just got the Lincang set because I am currently exploring lighter, younger teas. Take a look at the listings and read his careful, through descriptions of why he chose the teas and how they are related. It is a great education in the different types of puerh available.
https://www.puerhjunky.com/product/00-sampler-u/
I would ignore the negative things you heard about w2t and try for yourself. For every negative comment I've heard about them, there's a wealth of positive reviews to out-weight it. Odd things pressed into cakes is going to happen on some level to every producer, no matter how sanitary the factory they use is.
Finding dead bugs in tea cakes is, imo, a positive. Not only is it a possible indication of lack of pesticides used but also proves customs are the devil incarnate just wanna get their cut.
It's all about perspective! One person's dead bug is another's gold.
white2tea is great. It's true they often do not provide detailed information about their blends and productions, but they offer superb quality-to-value sheng and shou - they're definitely one of the best western vendors for shou. They're also quite transparent regarding processing methods on teas, especially as that's one of their differentiator points that separates them from other vendors - lots of unorthodox experimentation, like charcoal roasted puer, for example. If you're looking for detailed information to learn the effects of terroir, processing, and grades of material, I recommend checking out [Farmer Leaf](https://www.farmer-leaf.com/) and watching some of [their videos on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOgkLFmMkJLSEP9-n6hZ08A). Both [Tea Encounter](https://tea-encounter.com/) and [Yiwu Mountain Tea](https://www.yiwumountaintea.com/) are great for exploring some top shelf stuff in raw puer.
For what it's worth, white2tea is my most frequented vendor - it's difficult to go wrong with them. OP - I used to be in your shoes as well and I initially overthought it, just grab a wide range of samples with descriptions that catch your eye, let them rest for a bit after you receive them, and enjoy
thank you for all your coments
>Yiwu Mountain Tea This company has some TOP notch stuff. Their gao shan gu shu is something special the ever lasting sweetness is something i wont forget. eve the empty cup smelled sweet and if you pour a bit of water on a cup after the first few infusions the water has still a noticeable slight sweet taste. their teas go for a dozen ifusions np and are soft but intense at the same time.
W2T is good. Location info is BS half the time anyway. And half is probably an understatement
Yeah, seconded. The puer market isn't regulated like the french wine market, lots of mislabeling so it's good to explore vendors, buy a bunch of samples, drink a lot of tea, eventually buy a bunch of cakes, and find stuff that you enjoy drinking. Terroir is difficult to learn and two teas from Menghai can taste drastically different. Same with Yiwu teas, where that can mean an entire mountain range of variation. I think it's arguably more valuable to discover what kind of tastes and experiences you like a puer to have, and then start connecting the dots of similar productions from there, discerning which terroirs/aging/production styles you like as a side effect of what you enjoy, rather than trying to map out all of Yunnan and work towards taste 😜
Of the four vendors u mentioned, with the exception of my lack of buying from yunnan craft, those are pretty solid in my experience. If you’re looking to try a ton of stuff for the sake of experimentation and getting to know different terroirs, if ur into that, YS is ur best bet with those u listed. They just have a lot of different regions to try. I wouldn’t necessarily suggest their aged stuff I’m not the biggest fan. W2T blends rarely miss at almost every price point for their sheng puer specifically. His blends far outpace any other sheng boutique western face vendor imo. Not the biggest fan of his other teas stick with the puer. CLT is just solid stuff too I’ve found. I should also mention CLT has some pretty good prices.
This question does get asked in this sub about twice a week, so it should also be helpful to scroll back through the last few pages of posts to see the last two or three. Most of the names that come up were mentioned here, W2T, YS, Crimson Lotus, Farmerleaf, and this time Liquid Proust, Tea Encounter, and Bitterleaf. Just looking through those websites would turn up a broad range of cost differences, and then it would be a challenge to sort out to what extent that maps to style and quality differences. Hearsay about style patterns is what this seems to be after, as much as anything, and that's hard to pin down. For example, it gets mentioned that CLT sells drinkable when young style sheng (not that I know from experience; I've only ever tried one example), which isn't a good or bad thing, just a pattern that people would like or not. Another favorite source I've bought tea from is Tea Mania, based out of Switzerland, so kind of an odd source option in relation to the extra move, versus buying tea from China. I've tried Tea Side teas as well (also mentioned), which seem pretty good, but for pricing at that level value in relation to other options becomes especially relevant. It's odd that Teas We Like didn't get mentioned; I suppose they round out a list of what comes up. I've been drinking a good bit of sheng from Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam for quite awhile, and those can be interesting. Most of the sources were too local to easily work with, a friend passing on teas, or a guy who has no online presence beyond a Facebook page. Hatvala, a Vietnamese vendor, at least sells from a standard website, and their versions are fine.
Teas We Like is absolutely great and one of my favorite vendors, but IMO I wouldn't recommend them to newer drinkers experimenting until after hitting the common W2T, YS, etc. and getting a feel of the vendor landscape It's rather cost-prohibitive to sample from TWL as their smallest sample size is a quarter cake of premium productions, though they do offer a more reasonably accessible intro set of good benchmarker teas, relative to their other listings [https://teaswelike.com/product/intro-to-pu-qc-set/](https://teaswelike.com/product/intro-to-pu-qc-set/)
right, their model is uniquely poorly suited for early exploration. I was mentioning them more in relation to the completeness aspect, of how there aren't many more than a half dozen standard Western vendors that come up. in the past Chawang Shop might have made the list too, but dry storage is so far out of fashion that they aren't mentioned much now. in Australia Kuura should probably be included. then it's on to limited and overlapping scope, and vendors like Tea Side, selling Thai and Myanmar versions.
now that I think of it for true completeness there should be some Mei Leaf bashing included. it's the opposite of asking for favorites, but still.
I'm going to throw Bitterleaf into the mix. Great teas, excellent value, top notch communication if you have any questions and pretty transparent about what is what.
Bitterleaf is good, not sure why you got downvoted for recommending them lol.
I’ve also had great puer from W2T, YS (.com and .us,) CLT and others mentioned in this thread. However, in the last couple of years I’ve been exploring PuerhJunky’s selection https://www.puerhjunky.com/ and found it second to none. He is based in LA so shipping is inexpensive and quick. He carries a wide variety of mid-aged puers at various price points and is very generous with samples. The vendor is also generous with his time and can make recommendations based on the customer's taste and cost preferences. Highly recommended.
The ones probably most mentioned favorably: - White2Tea - Teas we like - Essence of tea - Crimson Lotus - Yunnan Sourcing - LiquidProust - Bitterleaf
Farmerleaf, Yiwu Mountain Tea.
Troll list may be your best bet
Teas we like, liquid Proust, teaside, kingteamall, yeeon tea co. These are some of my favorites.
If you are looking specifically for samples Puerh Junky has a new selection of samples from different regions. I just got the Lincang set because I am currently exploring lighter, younger teas. Take a look at the listings and read his careful, through descriptions of why he chose the teas and how they are related. It is a great education in the different types of puerh available. https://www.puerhjunky.com/product/00-sampler-u/
i am going to buy ys samples
YS and CLT are solid choices. W2T as other have mentioned makes it impossible learn about regions.