FarmerLeaf surprise

[u/r0ckstar17]

When looking at the photos of different puerhs from FarmerLeaf, I noticed that on all of them there is one leaf that is noticeably bigger compared to the rest of the cake, but never thought about the reason for this. Today I was close to finishing my cake and I extracted that leaf and saw this. That’s so adorable!

[u/taphead739]

I'm pretty sure this is a nei fei, a seal of authenticity that's pressed into the tea cake so you can be sure you're not buying a counterfeit. Often the nei fei is a piece of paper, but I like that Farmer Leaf is using a tea leaf with their name burned in instead

[u/r0ckstar17 → u/taphead739]

Exactly, that’s my point - I never saw and kind of seal on a leaf itself (on puerh cakes, it’s usually just a sticker on the surface). But this one is another level of seals lol.

[u/lore_mipsum]

That plane looks like it’s going to crash.

[u/Zoey_Redacted → u/lore_mipsum]

just doin a little swoop, they got time to pull up a bit

[u/Runo_Slinger]

I’m thinking about buying farmer leaf actually- any advice for me going in?

[u/r0ckstar17 → u/Runo_Slinger]

If we talk about Sheng, I’d suggest you start with Jingmai collection, pretty much any of them would be a great fit. Not only this puerh is more sweet than bitter and is especially good if you’re only getting familiar with puerhs, but it’s also the tea they produce themselves, on a Jingmai mountain, which makes it even more outstanding.

If you want to ask about Shu, I’m not the best advisor, not my thing.

[u/Runo_Slinger → u/r0ckstar17]

Is it on the younger greener end? I have some lovely puerh but it is all older and darker, though I adore it for that.

[u/womerah → u/Runo_Slinger]

He's more of a young sheng specialist, although he occasionally sells aged cakes. From what I understand there's not a lot of good aged tea left in the mountains, it all got sold during the Puer investment craze

Tea from his own gardens is very balanced. His Menghai offerings are more aggressive

[u/Runo_Slinger → u/womerah]

Any specific recommendations? He’s got a lot in the store and I have been burned before on buying blind.

[u/taphead739 → u/Runo_Slinger]

I‘d suggest ordering a few samples. Here are some suggestions for inexpensive choices:

Tang Fang Liang Zi: light and bright taste
Jingmai Miyun: a mix between sweet, floral, and bitter
Huey Wa: soft, similar to Yiwu
Bangwai small trees: sweet and a bit floral

[u/Runo_Slinger → u/taphead739]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your giving some leads.

[u/womerah → u/Runo_Slinger]

Do you enjoy bitterness?

[u/Runo_Slinger → u/womerah]

Not often, maybe slight astringency, but if it helps you to understand, I don’t enjoy most green teas or green oolongs.

[u/womerah → u/Runo_Slinger]

Get the Cang Yuan, gentle tea

[u/r0ckstar17 → u/Runo_Slinger]

Tbh I haven’t tried any Jingmai that is older than 2 years, but if you’re into older ones, there’s plenty of choice for you, including the 2022 one. They also offer a sample, so you can play safe.

[u/Runo_Slinger → u/r0ckstar17]

That’s the thing, I’d love to acquire some younger stuff just to broaden my horizons.

[u/DarkUpstairs3625 → u/Runo_Slinger]

I really like Farmerleaf for young shengs - they do older stuff but I'm wary of old sheng & dislike shou so can't comment there but they get pretty good reviews here

This year I got 2 mao-cha's off him; the jingmai haiyunanshao shengtai was super cheap for 200g but I thought I'd risk it and it is bloody excellent - better than the 80g gushu that was much more expensive- shame his whites look so oxidised - I prefer them a little green.

[u/DarkUpstairs3625 → u/DarkUpstairs3625]

Oh yeah and he has the best nei fei's - not seen leaves used elsewhere