Mid-age Tea is almost an unavoidable topic for all Pu'er tea enthusiasts. We savor our beloved mid-age teas, keep an eye on those with potential, seek out the ones that capture our hearts, and purchase the ones that catch our attention. So, what is it about mid-age tea that fascinates us? Why do we buy mid-age tea?

One Common Reason from Many Tea Lovers

Recently, we at Yi Pin Tea Club prepared for our sixth crowdfunding event. To choose a tea that would satisfy most of our members, we conducted a small survey to gather their opinions. The survey was straightforward – What would you like to see crowdfunded? There were three options: A. Find a newly made raw Pu'er; B. Find a 5-10 year aged raw Pu'er; C. Find an 11-15 year aged raw Pu'er. According to the feedback, most people chose option B or C, with more opting for C. This indicates that tea lovers prefer to buy Pu'er tea aged over ten years, also known as mid-age tea. In fact, looking back at the previous five crowdfunding events by Yi Pin Tea Club, the last three teas crowdfunded were mid-age teas. Therefore, we narrowed our search to raw Pu'ers produced before 2009 and ultimately selected a 2007 raw Pu'er stored in Yunnan's dry warehouse, meeting the needs of most tea lovers.

Over the past few crowdfunding events by Yi Pin Tea Club, hundreds of tea lovers have participated. Why do they favor mid-age tea? Through these events, we have found a common answer: mid-age tea is delicious and offers good value for money. Of course, this is relative, but in nearly a decade of promoting high-value living teas, we have observed that when tea lovers hear a tea has been aged for over ten years, most are satisfied with the age. That is, ten years is a recognized age where the tea enters its optimal drinking period. Ten years is a psychologically accepted age for tea lovers.

Multiple Reasons from Multiple Tea Lovers

Through years of interaction with numerous tea lovers, we clearly understand that while they share the same reasons for loving mid-age tea, there are also different factors that influence their preferences. We conducted an interesting point-to-point survey – Why do you love mid-age tea? Clearly, each tea lover's answer is unique, reflecting individual characteristics and personal preferences. However, the reasons for loving mid-age tea can be summarized as follows:

High drinkability. This is the primary reason acknowledged by most tea lovers, as tea is primarily purchased for drinking, and they have genuine drinking needs. Especially for those with weaker digestive systems or a cold constitution, they cannot drink new teas or those with less aging and thus opt for mid-age teas.

Mid-age tea is stress-free to drink, allowing one to enjoy it freely. Unlike some new teas, which may cause digestive issues for those with weaker stomach functions, mid-age teas generally have higher drinkability, naturally drawing the attention of tea lovers. Particularly for those with significant purchasing power, mid-age teas, or even those with higher ages, are often their daily choice.

Relatively high cost-effectiveness. This is perhaps the most important and direct reason consumers choose mid-age tea, as consumers are pragmatic. When a product meets their needs and falls within their budget, they simply buy it. Currently, mid-age teas aged over ten years, primarily those produced before 2009, have relatively low prices due to the originally lower raw tea costs and large market supply. Compared to new teas from famous mountains or villages and younger-aged teas, the prices are much more affordable. As a result, more consumers turn their attention to mid-age teas.

Relatively clear transformation trends. Although mid-age teas are still young compared to decades or even centuries-old teas, their transformation trends are relatively clear, much like a mature teenager whose character traits and potential can be discerned. For tea lovers who may not yet have a thorough understanding of Pu'er tea, this is like a reassurance. The tea before them, the tea in their mouths, they can be confident that it will likely transform as expected, potentially offering pleasant surprises. Even if it doesn't meet expectations, it won't be too disappointing, at worst not reaching the desired level of transformation.

Lower risk in storing tea. Some tea lovers love Pu'er tea and enjoy collecting, but are unwilling or hesitant to store new teas, mainly because they perceive risks in storing new teas. The newer the tea, the longer the wait for transformation, increasing uncertainty and storage risks, making it harder to predict transformation trends. However, storing mid-age tea poses significantly lower risks, as mid-age teas have already undergone a certain degree of transformation, allowing one to roughly gauge their quality and predict future transformations. For a tea that tastes good now and is personally liked, letting it age further could enhance its aroma and flavor. If expectations aren't met, drinking it now wouldn't result in significant loss. This is the general consumption mindset of most tea lovers.

Lower time costs. Some tea lovers are practical and believe that storing new tea requires waiting ten or even several years, for an uncertain outcome, and dealing with various storage risks, which they consider not worth it. Storing mid-age tea is a different matter entirely. If it tastes good now, it will likely improve after a few more years. They can drink and wait for three to five years, and during this process, observe changes in the tea and decide whether to continue storing it. If the transformation progresses well, with a bit more patience, the tea in their possession could reach approximately twenty years old. It's worth noting that some older tea lovers, often with considerable financial means, prefer to collect mid-age teas, even those with higher ages. One successful entrepreneur member of Yi Pin Tea Club has a tea collection measured in tons, spanning half a century, with mid-age teas aged over ten years being a significant part of his collection.

Higher drinking pleasure index. We know that due to the development history of Pu'er tea, influenced by annual production volume, market trends, manufacturing processes, and storage conditions, mid-age teas possess many unique qualities, some of which are irreplicable. Among them are many irreplicable benchmark teas. Some Pu'er tea enthusiasts with significant financial means pursue these benchmark teas to experience the unique drinking experiences they offer. One wealthy member of Yi Pin Tea Club is particularly fond of Pu'er tea and focuses on mid-age teas from the early 21st century and the 1990s, finding joy in tasting each benchmark tea.

Multiple Confusions of Tea Lovers

Every time Yi Pin Tea Club organizes a crowdfunding event, we rigorously screen the tea to ensure it appeals to the majority of our members. In fact, on our journey to find and select tea, we've encountered many confusions and heard many from our members. Among these confusions, the following stand out:

Too much substandard tea on the market. Taking the recent selection process for the crowdfunding tea as an example, we can say that our search for tea left us disappointed, even close to despair, as we sought through manufacturers, tea makers, and tea merchants via various channels. Tasting tea led us to question everything we knew. Among the dozens of samples we obtained, we discovered a phenomenon: substandard Pu'er teas abound. Some were sour, others tasteless, and some reminiscent of Chinese herbal medicine… Fortunately, we could identify the quality of the teas through their aromas, tasting the tea broth thrice (smelling the surface of the broth, the fair pitcher, and the leaves), confirming our judgments, and sometimes not even needing to taste them for fear of suffering. The main causes are twofold: problems with the raw materials and storage conditions. Upon brewing, the strange and unpleasant scents of the tea broth and leaves caused us to lament: the market is flooded with such substandard teas, how can consumers make selections? How many consumers are drinking substandard teas? As enthusiasts and consumers, we strongly urge the industry to take action, protect the interests of Pu'er tea consumers, maintain the good reputation of Pu'er tea, and prevent a few bad apples from spoiling the entire pot of Pu'er tea.

There is no reasonable pricing system for mid-age teas. Currently, the prices of mid-age teas are polarized. Benchmark teas are exorbitantly priced, often out of reach for the average tea lover who can only hear about them but not taste them. Meanwhile, mid-age teas of