Have you tried King Tea Mall? UPD: Bad experience
Do you have any pictures of the cakes you think are fake?
Should have taken more photos, I have only one or two: 2007 Menghai “Adorned in Red” Hong Zhuang: https://imgur.com/GpcDFcj
How soon did you sample them after arrival opilgrim? You probably know they need some time to acclimate after travel. I used to try teas too soon and later they tasted like 2 different teas…
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! ;)
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.
Damn it. I placed an order with them last week for 2 shou cakes…
2011 DaYi XinHeBaiNian Revoluntional Memorial Cake 357g YunNan Menghai Puerh Ripe Tea Cooked Shou Cha
2016 DaYi JinGuo Golden Fruit Cake 357g YunNan Menghai Puerh Ripe Tea Cooked Shou Cha
Is there any way I can tell if they’re fake or not? I’m pretty new to the pu erh world and chose these two after reading reviews…
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.
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 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.
I won’t let us make any customer disappoint because of our bad products or bad service and any friends be humiliated because they trust us or introduced even recommended us to any one.
That is my word.
I think taste alone is not the best way to tell a fake. I know sometimes a perfectly good tea doesn’t taste that good to me and it is usually my taste buds inability to get the more complex notes, or I just brewed the tea wrong. I am not saying they were not fakes but that you should go on more than taste. When I am in a rut teas may not taste good to me for days.
I think that taste alone is the worst way to judge a tea a fake. There are too many variables. It could be your taste buds. I know when my taste buds are off for some reason all teas taste terrible. Brewing method is a factor too. By this I am not saying you didn’t get a fake but they might have been real. Did you test them under a black light?
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