Search
Philip Lee
- Mar 14, 2018
- 6 min
An Introduction to Gaoshan Village in Yiwu (易武高山寨)
Being one of few foreigners to spend time in Gaoshan, Yiwu, I get a lot of questions about the village, culture and life there. Having been coming and going for over ten years now, I've seen how Puer tea has changed life in the village. Here, I have put together some basic facts about my adopted home and where my first cup of raw Puer came from. Village Overview Gaoshan Village (written in Chinese as either 高山, 高山寨, or 高山村) is a Yi-ethnic group (彝族) village. There are many
491 views0 comments
Philip Lee
- Mar 12, 2018
- 5 min
Why do Puer prices change over time?
It's that time of the year - many major online retailers have recently increased prices on their current products. Whether you are a consumer, or tea trader, price, cost and value are all key points to consider when making a purchase. However, unlike many other drinks such major retail coffees or tea bag teas, Puer prices change often enough to raise some challenging questions. So why do Puer prices change? Even the same production/recipe, farmer, plantation cannot provide
296 views0 comments
Philip Lee
- Nov 10, 2017
- 3 min
Learning with a 2007 Yiwu Gaoshan - a 10-year and ongoing journey with Puer
2007 Yiwu Gaoshan (易武正山乔木七子饼茶) 400g cake - November Tasting You could say that Yiwu Mountain Tea began with this 2007 cake made from pure Gaoshan material as it was my first introduction to 'real' tea. I was sent a whole case of this cake not long after I moved to Guangzhou with my wife. It was with this cake that I learned about ageing Puer and how I started high-quality tea. Back in 2007, the leaves were still extremely bitter to my inexperienced taste buds. However, bey
106 views0 comments
Philip Lee
- Nov 8, 2017
- 2 min
Yiwu Black tea - much sweeter than Scottish breakfast!
We've been dedicating ourselves to share great Puer tea from Yiwu in Xishuangbanna. What many don't know is that Yiwu leaves are so famous for Puer that the other styles of tea, such as black tea, don't quite get nearly enough attention. Being British, most of my original black tea experience is breakfast blend teabag. I won't name the brands but there really aren't many although their blends are unique enough to cause debates when the wrong brand is used. Milk and sugar ma
52 views0 comments
Philip Lee
- Nov 7, 2017
- 3 min
Danggui (当归) - Yiwu Gushu 2013, sample cake tasting session
2013 Yiwu Gushu – Danggui 2017 November, sample cake tasting update (afternoon/evening) This is another sample cake has been sitting inside a cardboard box at the bottom of the sample pile for at least a couple of years now. Similar to the 2011 cake, this was mainly sold to family and friends with very limited stock left. These leaves were made using the autumn gushu in 2013 with all of the spring gushu going towards single estate productions. The result is a cake which has
105 views0 comments
Philip Lee
- Oct 24, 2017
- 4 min
Danggui (当归) - Yiwu Gushu 2009, sample cake tasting session
The Danggui series - 2009 Yiwu Gushu 2017 October, sample cake tasting update (morning session) This tea has been ageing in Guangzhou since 2012 and the pictured sample cake has been sitting out on display without any cover since (rookie mistake). As easily seen, the colour has clearly developed a redness that will not quite be so prevalent on the properly stored cakes. The cake still has a pleasant flowery aroma from the raw leaves. We were a bit unceremonious with the leave
244 views0 comments
Philip Lee
- Oct 18, 2017
- 3 min
Brewing Yiwu Gushu Puer Tea - Gongfu style brewing
Firstly, a quick recap of the definition of gongfu brewing. There is no clear 'standard' for Gongfu brewing. Rather, gongfu brewing really just means using available knowledge, framework(s), equipment, material and techniques to adjust the brewing appropriate to the environment and the drinkers. The key goal is using the appropriate gongfu to adapt the brewing method to get the best out of each tea and improve a tea-drinking experience. The opposite applies - badly brewed
108 views0 comments
Philip Lee
- Oct 14, 2017
- 1 min
How big are wild arbor Gushu trees in Gaoshan?
To answer this simple question, we happily share pictures of our Gushu trees that produce our much loved family gushu tea: (picking autumn gushu leaves in Gaoshan, October 2017) You can watch mini clips of the whole journey here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj8qjgrUiPZ0EbhKapMhRnQyzUVvkABWX Here are some other shots of Gushu taken around Yiwu: If you'd like to see more, please like and share our facebook page： https://www.facebook.com/yiwugaoshanyouyichafang/ Alter
73 views0 comments
{"items":["5ac482485955b70014cca09d","5aa505908280680014ebad8a","5a6c090b260ce108634dd579","5a03efd7ee3e58001476c6e2","5a02a705ee3e5800147605f4","5a01b3e25b7bfb00147e1d7a","59ed8de271ed820014deaefa","59e70340b7a3be00144f554a","59e1cb3371bc870014e71745"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"fill","cubeRatio":1.3333333333333333,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":32,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"rotatingScatter":"","chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":1,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":1,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":1,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":true,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":"SHOW_ON_THE_RIGHT","galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":0,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":50,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":1,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"jsonStyleParams":"","gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":940,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"value":"#D4D3D3"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"targetItemSize":940,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|fill|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":false,"externalInfoHeight":0,"externalInfoWidth":0.5},"container":{"width":940,"galleryWidth":972,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}