Have you tried King Tea Mall? UPD: Bad experience

Should have taken more photos, I have only one or two: 2007 Menghai “Adorned in Red” Hong Zhuang: https://imgur.com/GpcDFcj

Who taught you that trick?

mrmopar there is one very good friend of mine shared some tea wisdom with me ;)

As you shared with me.

The order arrived quickly. I was travelling at that point, so the teas had around 3 weeks to acclimate. Otherwise, I would have no patience to wait! ;)

Was it out of the plastic wrap? Or still in the box wrapped up?

It was in the box for about 2 weeks, about a week unwrapped

How do you acclimate them? Do they need certain conditions to settle in?

There are as many different theories on this as there are puerh drinkers ordering from China. But I think the general consensus is the need about two weeks in open storage to acclimate. Some theories are that the microbes in the tea need to come back to life, etc. Others that they simply need to adjust after a long journey. Still others think this process is not required.

I wouldn’t worry just yet. I’ve placed around 9-10 orders from there and always been satisified.

I wouldn’t worry too much. I’ve ordered about 20+ cakes from them so far and all have been good, including that 2011 Shou you ordered.

You can purchase samples from YS and then A/B test it. Good luck!

I also recommend reading these articles. Unfortunately, there are too many fake Dayis out there.

https://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=12141

http://www.twodogteablog.com/2014/06/19/avoid-fake-puerh-scams-fake-puer/

http://www.marshaln.com/tag/taobao/

http://www.twodogteablog.com/2014/11/28/fake-puerh-tea-avoid-scams/

Meowster, I don’t think you will have any problems. I will be glad to look at anything you get. I can tell by the seals and how it is wrapped. You can also use a black light to light up the security seals. Aged raw Dayi is probably 99% of the stuff that is faked in the market. Dayi goes to great lengths to make sure we can spot the differences. I think since about 2007 they have gotten real serious about it and standardized a lot of things making it easier to spot.

Awesome. I was just worried because the price of the centennial cake was about half as much as where I found on other sites… which seemed too good to be true lol

The good think about King is the markup isn’t as high. I don’t think the margins are what the other sellers run. Volume at good pricing will beat the slow sales on high margin stuff. I have gotten Dayi, XiaGuan and Chen Sheng Hao with no issues from any.

I have also placed around eight or ten orders counting when they were on Aliexpress. I have always been pretty happy with what I got. Nothing ever seemed fake to me. I still have a few I bought more than a year ago that I have not even opened but I am not worried at all because I have always got good tea. Got a ripe Dayi Lao Cha Tou nugget that was if I remember from 1996. It was really good. With this particular product the only way to determine if it was a fake was by taste and it passed with flying colors.

Hi meowster
Please don’t worry about the authenticity and storage condition of these tea. I am here and have full responsibility to these teas sold by me.
Kind regards
John

ironically this thread (before the updated negative experience) is actually what led me to discover KingTeaMall and pull the trigger on purchasing lol.

My initial thoughts were actually quite impressed with the customer service. I was not expecting pictures of my products (in addition to two samples I think?) being included in the shipping email.

I look forward to getting my cakes!

I have no doubts in your honesty that you will send samples from the cake I’ve returned..

You did send me two low res photos of the teas (120kn and 70kb), I did not include them here because you can’t see the details.

I didn’t notice significant issues with the wraps, I mostly drank samples or got parts of cakes of those Dayi ripes.

Thanks for the refund.

I’ve sent you an email about the missing account, but never heard back.

I have gotten a lot of good ripe from you even once coming back for a tong.

Allan
I am grateful. Thank you.
John

I have purchased from you since you were on Aliexpress. I know I have bought a bunch with no issues on either site you have operated.

Mrmopar
A “Thanks” can’t fully express my feeling now.
John

P.S. To all of you guys like Mrmopar, please let me say “Thank you”

John Hou – No need to restore the account. I have recreated the list of teas for purchase and already bought them from a different vendor.

You confirmed here that you simply ignored my email about the deleted Tea Mall account. The tone and the questions you asked about restoring my account are quite telling too.

It’s all good, that’s exactly the point of this thread — provide info to those who decide on vendors to purchase tea from.

They are all here

Steepster has been down a few days. Your posts should be up.

Hi Allan, I agree. That’s why I brewed some of the teas on different days. My brewing parameters are quite consistent (measured g & temp).

water isn’t perfect here in the UK, but I use Brita filter and then charcoal for all tea sessions

That should help. Have you ever had your water professionally tested?