What advice would you give a new tea drinker?

An earthy brew from the 90s + what we wish we knew when we started drinking tea.

It goes great with dim sum

The tea: 1990s loose leaf raw puer, sold by Essence of Tea. $158 for 300g.

There’s aged tea for collecting and aged tea for drinking. This easygoing brew is decidedly for the latter. Earthy, leathery puer is a classic pairing for Hong Kong dim sum because it helps oily foods go down smooth. Here is a taste of that tea from a bygone era that’s good enough to reward considered drinking, yet relaxed enough to sip without fuss. You can drink it everyday for less than the price of a cup of coffee.

When we talk about aged puer, it’s usually pressed into cakes for easy transport and storage. But not all puer is aged this way. A lot of it—usually bulk tea for restaurants and mass retailers—is kept loose, such as this allegedly 1990s raw puer. I say “allegedly” because when you buy loose tea, there’s no wrapper to document where and when it came from. Maybe it was blended together from several batches or adulterated with ripened puer. We just don’t know the full story. All we do know is how it tastes and if we like it. Such anonymity can lead to excellent value. Like a prized action figure, the price of an aged tea plummets when pulled from its packaging.

The source: Essence of Tea is a boutique dealer based in China that specializes in puer, fermented liu bao, and high end Wuyi cliff oolongs. I haven’t tasted a lot from them, but I’ve liked more of the teas I’ve tried than not, and owners David Collen and Yingxi Chen have a knack for finding good old treats like this puer.

To brew: There’s another reason loose puer commands a lower price than pressed cakes: the tea loses a lot of its distinctive qualities in storage. This batch is favorable for what it doesn’t taste like. It’s mushroomy but not dank. There are no off aromas. It doesn’t get bitter with prolonged steeping. I consider it clean, thick, and mellow with a lasting sweetness. Touches of ginseng and root beer emerge in later brews. Steep a fat pinch in a teapot or mug and refill with boiling water as you go. One serving of leaves will last you all day. If you’re not ready to get a full bag, Essence of Tea offers 25 gram samples, but if you’re intrigued, I like to keep around a reliable loose puer for casual drinking, and as of the moment, this one is my go-to.

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Tea talk for our younger selves

A few weeks ago, someone on Reddit posted a discussion topic that I thought was worth sharing. “What do you wish you know when you first got into tea,” they asked. The community rallied with answers:

“You don't need every new gadget or teaware you see.”

“Doing gongfu style brewing. Even for non-Chinese teas. Changed the game.”

“I wish I had stocked up on puers for pennies back then, instead of waiting for my 8 gram sample to finally mature in 2045.”

“Don’t overbuy….Sure, you save money on larger quantities, but my tea was getting stale before it was half gone.”

As someone with many hobbies, and who’s written articles responsible for sucking normal people down the tea rabbit hole, I feel some responsibility toward this question. Most serious tea drinkers I know wish they did things differently at first. We all have regrets over pricy purchases that weren’t worth it, and missed opportunities we didn’t realize we had. That said, why are we so eager to judge the past versions of ourselves that brought us to where we are now?

Most of the advice in that Reddit thread is pretty good in my view, especially the lines about not spending big on teaware. When I think about what I’d tell my younger self, two key points come to mind.