2010 Hong Shang Dou

I’ve drank this tea a fair amount lately and I have to stop and ask myself why. I think because this tea is kind of a throw away. It’s not bad, it’s not great and it was cheap. The maocha was obviously heavily cleaned and maybe processed a little stiffly. There’s an odd papery sensation to the whole tea and I think for now, I’ll stop drinking it and see what becomes of it in 10 years.

I can not make up my mind about Douji. Their teas are better than Menghai or Zhongcha or the other factories, but their prices are so high. Then, if you dip into their less expensive teas (see above) the quality is just ok.

This is good enough to drink, and it is a decent daily tea. Just as a point of reference for frequent steepster users, this tea is about 5 times better than anything offered by most American tea retailers, but if you compare it to all the other puer tea out there, it is just a hair above average.