Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Aged Puer Tea "Garage Sale"

Hi Tea Friends! It's been a long time since I've popped up in this space! I hope you're all doing well :)

As many of you know, I've been collecting puer tea for two decades. I really love puer but to be honest I don't drink it very often. For me it's more of a social beverage. These days I drink a lot more black tea and oolong and I've come to realize I have way more puer tea than I'll ever actually need.



I will always adore high quality loose leaf tea, but the main passions in my life these last 5 years have been music (especially the mighty UKULELE!) and helping my brilliant wife Alanna Peterson promote her amazing YA eco-thriller series, the Call of the Crow Quartet. Alanna and I are currently raising money to produce an audiobook of When We Vanished (book one of her Quartet). We need to raise about $3000 to do that project right. 

My goal with this blog post is to sell some of my puer collection to help finance the audiobook. I have lots of great aged sheng puer that I'm willing to sell. All the prices below are negotiable.

How was the tea stored?  

All of my puer tea is stored together on four shelves in the corner of my office in Seattle, Washington, USA. A curtain is hung over the front to block out light. Most cakes are wrapped in their original paper. Some cakes are broken up into tins or ceramic jars.

How will sales be handled? 

Please email me to get the ball rolling [ blackdragontea [at] gmail [dot] com ]. I'm happy to answer any specific questions you have. You can pay with PayPal or Venmo (or cash if you're local and we can manage to get together). Then, I'll ship or deliver your tea ASAP. 

Here's what I'm selling! *If I ever did a review on my blog of the tea I'll provide the link in the title :)

1. 2004 Awazon Sheng Cake Whole Cake 340g $75 (2 available)


2. 2003 Zi Yun Hao Sheng Cake Whole Cake $350g for $200 


3. 2006 Xi Zi Hao Ban Zhang Natural Habitat Cake Partial Cake 370g $125 *SOLD


4. 2006 Jinggu Da Bai Hao Partial Cake 320g for $100


5. 2002 Nu Er Gang Tea Sheng Cake. Whole Cake 395g for $100 (1 available); Partial Cake 390g for $90 (1 available)


6. 2009 Wu Liang Lan Xiang from Yunnan Sourcing Partial Cake 340g $225


7. 2005 Langhe factory Sheng Cake Partial Cake already broken up into chunks ~218g for $100. I will include this cool ceramic caddie it's been living in if you want it. *SOLD


8. 2007 5th International Aged Puer Party Memorial Cake Partial Cake ~320g $125


9. 2010 Ban Pen Sheng Cake. Purchased from Essence of Tea. Almost whole cake ~235g. $50  *SOLD


10. 2009 Da Qiu Feng from Yunnan Sourcing Partial Cake $340g for $225


11. 2006 Da Bai Hao Partial Cake 370g for $100


12. 2009 Guan Zi Zai Zao Chun Nan Nuo Shan tea cake from Yunnan Sourcing. Partial Cake 390g for $225


13. 2006 Nan Nuo Shan Six Famous Tea Mountains. Whole Cake 350g $75


14. 2006 Banzhang Lao Man E Purchased from pu-erhtea.com. Whole cake 370g for $100 (1 available); partial cake 330g for $75 (1 available)


15. 2005 Tian Yi Sheng Cake Partial cake 360g $75 *SOLD


16. 2006 Bang Wei Sheng Cake from Six Famous Tea Mountains. Partial Cake 340g for $50  


17. 2009 Man Zhuan Partial Cake 330g for $225

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Gongfu Cha (工夫茶) Demonstration Video!

Hi Tea Friends! It's been a whole year since I popped into this space. I still drink lots of loose leaf tea but my main gig at this point in my life has been playing and teaching Ukulele and Guitar. My other passion these day is supporting my brilliant wife Alanna's emerging career as an Author!

Today I'm bringing you a video that combines my 3 passions! 

1. It's a Gongfu Cha demonstration video!

2.  It supports my wife's new book Within Every Flame!

3.  It features my original tune Tiger Relay! 

Within Every Flame is book 3 of her AMAZING Call of the Crow Quartet. If you've been "sleeping" on her first two books, When We Vanished (#1) and Where Shadows Grow (#2)... what are you waiting for!? These books are so so good. So good, that they make my heart ache... but in a good way somehow! :) All of Alanna's books are so rich with darkness, light, emotion, plot, intrigue, and many amazing characters. I've read them a few times now and each time I make new connections and discover fascinating new details. 




You can buy Alanna Peterson's printed books or ebooks from our indie publishing company Rootcity Press (US customers only) or order them from your favorite bookstore (available in many countries)! 

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Where Shadows Grow Music Video!

Hi Tea Friends. I hope you're all doing OK and drinking lots of awesome tea.

Big News! My favorite author Alanna Peterson just released her second novel Where Shadows Grow TODAY! 

Where Shadows Grow is book 2 of Alanna's epic Call of the Crow Quartet

You can now buy When We Vanished (book 1), and Where Shadows Grow at Rootcity Press or your favorite bookstore. If you're an ebook reader When We Vanished is currently on sale for just $0.99!

Alanna and I made this music video inspired by the book to help celebrate it's launch! (There's tea in this video so it works for this blog ;) Please check it out and let me know what you think!

If you're looking for a great YA eco-thriller with rich characters and an incredible, intriguing plot... check this series out! 

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

When We Vanished - Release Day is Here ! ! !

Hi Tea Friends! I'm dropping in today to tell everyone that my wife Alanna Peterson's debut novel When We Vanished comes out today! I love this YA Thriller so much and I'm so excited for it to reach more readers in the days to come!


Please order the book from your favorite book store or from the publisher Rootcity Press!
More info at alannapeterson.com Find the book here on Goodreads here.

Monday, July 1, 2019

Banzhang Chun Qing - 10 years old - Revisited

Hi Tea Friends!

For 15 years I've been a puer tea collector. 

My puer collection lives behind this curtain in the corner of my office where it stays dark, dry and shielded from kitchen smells.


Peek-a-boo!

10 years ago I purchased one of Yunnan Sourcing's Banzhang Chun Qing Puer Tea Cakes (班章純情普洱茶餅) This tea was pretty hot on the 2009 tea blogger scene for good reason. It is delicious. For a little background on the cake and my original impression you can check out this old post.

On June 15th, I randomly grabbed this Banzhang Chun Qing cake when I had some friends over for a party. When I looked at the production date I smiled! The tea I had chosen to brew was very close to being exactly 10 years old!


♪♫♪♫ Happy Birthday to You ♪♫♪♫

I've enjoyed three sessions with this cake over the last couple weeks. When I posted a pic on my Instagram (brett_uke), the venerable Geoffrey Norman, suggested I write a follow up comparing the ten year old cake with it's younger self. Today I did just that! 

I used my white ceramic gaiwan and a 5 gram chunk of tea cake. This tea is sweet and fruity with peach aroma in some early infusions transforming into a musky ripe papaya. It has nice cinnamon, cedar and camphor notes in the back of my throat.

~5 gram chunk

The color is a few shades darker orange than it was 10 years ago. The liquor pours thick and brothy. I can't remember if it had this level of saponic thickness 10 years ago but it sure is satisfying today.

Earthier flavors and some sweet raisiny notes come to me after infusion #4. Mostly, the tea is all about the stone fruits and totally not smoky. Sometimes it reminds me of first flush Darjeeling.

Looking back on my decade old post I'd say this tea is aging just fine. It is a bit smoother, mellower and older tasting. I'm lucky to still have about half the cake left so I can brew it again in another decade!

3rd infusion

Any of you other old school tea bloggers out there still have any of this cake left? If you do, let me know! I'd love to hear how yours is aging! This tea has slightly renewed my enthusiasm for puer tea! 

Monday, June 10, 2019

You Should Read My Wife's Amazing First Novel!

My brilliant wife Alanna has been hard at work for over 7 years writing an incredible, thrilling, young adult fiction Quartet! (that's 4 amazing books ya'll !). This series has something for everyone. I've read them all (at least 4 times now :), I love them beyond reason, and I can't wait to talk with other people about them.

Alanna is releasing book one, "When We Vanished" in June 2020!!!

                                                

For details visit her website alannapeterson.com .

If you use Goodreads please put When We Vanished on your "Want to Read" shelf and give it a review after you read it! Here's a link to the book on Goodreads!

Thank you So Much!
Brett Boynton, Tea Lover, Uke Player and Alanna Peterson Fanboy

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Sri Lankan Tea Tasting Event at Redwing Cafe!


Hi Tea Friends! It's your old tea geek pal Brett. I've been cooking at Redwing Cafe in southeast Seattle for 4 great years now. Although I'm no longer in the tea industry, I still drink high quality loose-leaf tea everyday.

Recently I met Simon, an owner of Amba organic tea estate in Sri Lanka, who asked to present a Sri Lankan tea tasting event entitled "Teaology" at Redwing Cafe to promote his tea garden and to benefit the Suriya Women’s Development Centre, a grass-roots charity working with conflict-affected communities in eastern Sri Lanka

The tasting is Thursday, June 13th starting at 5:00 PM. It is $25 per guest, which is a great deal considering you get a flight of 6 delicious unique teas, paired with light vegetarian treats and snacks (let me know in advance if you have any specific food allergies). Plus you're helping to support a great organization.

A flyer about this event is pictured below. This Tea Tasting event will fill up quickly so please RSVP asap.

Please email me if you have any questions or to RSVP and I hope to see you there!