Pu-erh newbie - how to start?

Since you like black teas, I recommend you start with shu puerh. It can be very powerful in taste and aroma, but I haven’t had it bitter yet. It can be very strong though. Get good quality so you don’t end up with a fishy wet dog smell and give it a go. Try to keep an open mind as the aroma and the taste don’t always match the way you expect.

Sheng puerh is not my favourite as I find it both bland and bitter but I know many other Steepsterites are much better informed on puerh than I am and I am sure they will be here soon.

There are 100s (if not 1000s) of pu tasting notes in this thread, check it out: http://steepster.com/discuss/5496-pu-erh-of-the-day-sheng-or-shou

I would say start with a few samples and then brew them gong fu-style so you can discern the flavors you are tasting. That’s what I did. I didn’t try the good stuff until my tastes changed from only liking flavored teas to enjoying unflavored teas. You might start with some unflavored black teas first. If you want samples, Mandala is a good company for puerh. I would recommend against raw puerh if you don’t like bitter flavors, so start with ripe. I also don’t recommend flavored puerhs for the most part, except for maybe Lupicia’s chocolate strawberry puerh, but even then it doesn’t really taste like straight puerh.

I just started seriously drinking pu-erh a few months ago, so am pretty close to where you are. I wouldn’t limit myself to shou; my personal taste runs toward sheng (try steeping at 175 degrees).

You definitely want samples. Otherwise you may wind up buying pounds of stuff you don’t like. Also, your taste may evolve quickly, so that something you like now won’t appeal to you in a year. Don’t buy a lot of cheap pu-erh: you’ll be tempted by what looks like bargains, but may wind up with a pound of tea that you don’t want to drink.

Mandala isn’t a bad choice, but Yunnan Sourcing has a much wider selection at lower prices. Lots of samples at prices of $4-6; many reviewed on steepster. Read the reviews to get a sense of whether you’d like it. Play around with water temperature; with sheng in particular I’ve found I hated a tea at 175, and loved it at 200 AND VICE VERSA! Keep at it if you don’t like it at first; You gradually develop a taste for it (kind of like beer or coffee).

Another vote for Mandala – that’s the place I bought my first cakes from, though I had loose pu’er before in blends and a few ripes from one off sellers that carried a pu’er or two with little info. Yunnan Sourcing is also good, Crimson Lotus is good too, White2Tea is really nice. Feel free to email/tweet/whatever the vendors and ask for recommendations too!

I’d say it’s important when you are starting out with pu’er to get something decent, especially if you are sensitive in taste. Many have been turned off bad pu’er or pu’er tastes you aren’t used to – ripes can be ferment/fishy/ mushroomy mega earthy tasting. Raws can be bitter/ strong/ smokey/very dry.

Check out Steepster’s high rated pu’er http://steepster.com/teas?pu-erh=on and see if those vendors do samples – no more than 1oz.

If you don’t like strong – You should steep it gongfu style, starting with 5 to 10 second infusions. Western style, especially for ripe, can pack a punch.

I would recommend samples of puerh to start. Mandala has a $5 sampler pack in ripe puerh and I think raw puerh. You will find that with ripe puerh that if you are put off by the earthy flavor you can steep it a few times and usually this earthy flavor will go away at least somewhat.

A lot of puerh you will find is sub standard and gives puerh a bad name. I tried the puerhs from Teavana early on and didn’t like them. These are examples of bad puerh. Now I have a collection to rival the craziest collector.

I will suggest to you my favorite ripe puerh, the 2008 Song of Chi Tse from Berylleb King Tea on EBay. Look for my review ans Sarsonator’s review of this tea on steepster. It is reasonably priced and the best. Because you buy it on EBay, it is a secure transaction. Berylleb is a class act though anyway. They include free samples with anything. In fact it is impossible to order from them and not get tea. Every time I have ordered teawares from them I have gotten free samples of tea.

Also, if you build up your cupboard there will be plenty of people willing to swap with you. I see from your bio that you are from New Zealand. Find someone from New Zealand willing to swap some puerh with you.

Good advice and sample and sample more as your tastes will change the deeper you get into it. I followed you so we can see each others notes if you follow me if you choose.
Welcome to the puerh world.

In addition to what’s already been said, I would highly recommend learning the art of “tea with great skill” aka gong fu cha! Learning how to properly prepare your pu erh is a critical part of the experience IMO. I’ve brewed pu erh in western style tea bags, in tea balls, in a french press, in the microwave (I know, I know) and nothing compares to the quality of tea you get when it is prepared the proper way. Bare minimum it should be brewed loose leaf in a tea pot. If you don’t have such a tea pot I’d get one asap. Here is everything you need to know and more to steep your pu erh gong fu style. http://www.thechineseteashop.com/gong-fu-cha.html

Seems like there is a lot to learn! How can you tell the difference between ripe and unripe?
So far I have seen blocks as well as loose leaf pu-erh in some of the Asian stores around here. I am in New Zealand and dont know if there are any locals on here to trade with. But we have some of the Aussie tea stores here as well like T2.

Ok so I kind of ‘cheated’ and picked up some pu-erh in tea bag form (I know, I know) while I was getting supplies at an Asian grocer for my cooking. I have been so intrigued (and slightly scared) of what pu-erh might actually be like. I had some while preparing a new dish (and probably didn’t give it the full attention it deserves). It reminds me of old wooden furniture, earthy, and I got a vision of the carved wooden Tibetan Peace Pagoda in Brisbane when we still lived there. I get some positive and negative connotations of “old wood”, slightly musty maybe, not sure but I must keep an open mind.

Incidentally while sipping it was also my first time preparing tamarind, which is kinda similar in that it is brown vegetal matter compressed in a flat rectangular block, lol. But that is where the similarity ends as tamarind paste is very very sour. But thought I’d add that in there. I tackled 2 scary unknowns in the one go.

By the way I just found out that aliexpress ships to New Zealand and saw some pu-erh samples, little circular wrapped, in a drawstring bag. 50pieces, really cheap.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/On-Sale-Free-Shipping-50pcs-35-Kinds-of-Flavour-Pu-erh-Tea-Pu-er-tea-Puer/629271392.html

Seems too good to be true, what’s the catch I wonder.