Results of Chinese New Year tea shopping
I found out today that the best time to shop for tea is the week before the Chinese new year, particularly if you're friends with shopkeepers. Not only are there great sales, but if they consider you their friend you'll tend to get a ton of gifts as well.
With the suggestions from this group in mind, I went looking for a pu-erh cake from the last year of the ox, in 1997. Found one, but it was almost $400. Obviously the pu-erh price bubble-burst hasn't yet effected the front line in North America. So instead we ended up with:
1. 1 half-pound tin of 70 year-old undomesticated arboreal pu-erh ($35 off)
2. 2 half-pound tins of 5 year-old domesticated arboreal pu-erh (buy-one-get-one-free on 1/2 lb plus 20% off, or $84 off)
3. 2 one-pound baskets of 6 year-old Liu An (buy-one-get-one-free, or $45 off)
4. 3 five-pound bags of bubble tea mix: taro, watermelon, and egg-pudding flavored ($10 off)
5. 1 pound of basil/honey infused preserved plums (free to us as a new year gift, a $7 value)
6. 4 one-pound jars of dried/candied cherry tomatoes (free as a new year gift to my kids, a $20 value)
7. 1 zisha clay micro-mesh filter and stand (free to us as a new year gift, a $10 value)
8. 2 one-pound bags of everyday-grade cooked pu-erh (buy-one-get-one-free or $10 off)
9. 3 half-pound bags of green-tea mochi (buy-two-get-one-free or $5 off).
So total savings today for us was $216. We typically get some good deals, but this was a quite a bit more than usual!
If you love near a Chinese tea shop, it might be worth giving them a visit this week and wishing them a "Gongxi Facai"!
With the suggestions from this group in mind, I went looking for a pu-erh cake from the last year of the ox, in 1997. Found one, but it was almost $400. Obviously the pu-erh price bubble-burst hasn't yet effected the front line in North America. So instead we ended up with:
1. 1 half-pound tin of 70 year-old undomesticated arboreal pu-erh ($35 off)
2. 2 half-pound tins of 5 year-old domesticated arboreal pu-erh (buy-one-get-one-free on 1/2 lb plus 20% off, or $84 off)
3. 2 one-pound baskets of 6 year-old Liu An (buy-one-get-one-free, or $45 off)
4. 3 five-pound bags of bubble tea mix: taro, watermelon, and egg-pudding flavored ($10 off)
5. 1 pound of basil/honey infused preserved plums (free to us as a new year gift, a $7 value)
6. 4 one-pound jars of dried/candied cherry tomatoes (free as a new year gift to my kids, a $20 value)
7. 1 zisha clay micro-mesh filter and stand (free to us as a new year gift, a $10 value)
8. 2 one-pound bags of everyday-grade cooked pu-erh (buy-one-get-one-free or $10 off)
9. 3 half-pound bags of green-tea mochi (buy-two-get-one-free or $5 off).
So total savings today for us was $216. We typically get some good deals, but this was a quite a bit more than usual!
If you love near a Chinese tea shop, it might be worth giving them a visit this week and wishing them a "Gongxi Facai"!