Puer yearling Tea

“Filling the gap” is just right now

We once classified Puer tea based on age into new, mid-aged, and aged tea. We also divided it according to its historical development into badge-grade, imprint-grade, seven-cake tea, and standard-grade.

This time, from the perspective of choosing daily consumption tea, we simplify the definition of yearling tea: “Any Puer tea that isn't new is considered a yearling tea, which can be five, ten, thirty, or even fifty years old.”

Regardless of the distinct characteristics developed by different teas over time, under the assurance of quality raw materials, processing, and storage conditions, yearling tea gradually loses its harshness and becomes more mellow and harmonious. As a post-Fermented tea, this is one of its distinguishing features from other tea types.

In the past two decades, the concept of “the older, the better” has been omnipresent, leading to a significant presence of yearling tea in today's Puer tea market. It's said that Guangdong's Dongguan alone holds nearly 400,000 tons of stored tea.

An increasing number of tea merchants and companies advocate: “Puer tea is meant for drinking.” “Reducing inventory” has become one of the primary topics in the Puer tea industry. These yearling teas are entering the period of opening storage and releasing tea, making it the right time for consumers to “fill the gap” with Puer yearling tea. “Filling the gap” does not mean buying only cheap teas but rather high-value-for-money daily consumption teas.

This article mainly focuses on raw tea to further explore and understand yearling tea, forming a purchasing logic for selecting one's own yearling tea for daily consumption.

Yearling tea ≠ Only expensive

Based on the “the older, the better” logic, it's easy to form a reflexive association that “the older, the more expensive.” However, apart from the time value dimension, many factors determine the ultimate fair value of yearling tea.

Economically speaking, the price of yearling tea should reasonably rise within a sensible range due to factors like labor costs and inflation interacting with each other.

Under the assurance of quality raw materials, processing, and storage conditions, yearling tea offers a better tasting experience. With the market recognizing this time value, the value of Puer tea itself is akin to interest on a deposit, naturally giving yearling tea room for appreciation.

All these factors combined, the price of yearling tea should logically increase year by year. Within yearling teas, there are benchmark products such as “7542” and “88 Qing,” as well as ordinary ones, the latter accounting for a large proportion. This can be clearly seen by browsing the WeChat Moments of tea merchants in Fangcun.

On the market, most of the teas that deter mass consumers are the well-known benchmark products. Other Puer tea products from the same tea factory as these classic teas may not be much inferior in terms of quality and overall performance. This lays a suitable foundation for the logic of “filling the gap” with yearling tea.

The tea merchant Bao Yuan has been doing tea business in Guangzhou for two generations. Their main focus is bulk trade in yearling tea. Brands like Xinghai, Nanqiao, Menghai Tea Factory, Liming Tea Factory, and Bagueting are now commonly found in their offerings. “We have always dealt with these established tea factories because they have their own style and history, which many customers recognize and appreciate.

In these major factories' products, the benchmark products increase in price year by year, but there are also ordinary products where a single cake can cost less than 100 yuan. For tea enthusiasts who enjoy these styles, as an entry-level daily consumption tea, the value for money is quite high.”

Price inversion in yearling tea

Is it reliable?

When searching for “Puer tea yearling tea” on online shopping platforms, the displayed prices are generally very “affordable.” When compared with new teas of the same year, there is often a price inversion. While the saying goes “cheap things aren't good,” this logic doesn't quite apply when choosing daily consumption yearling tea.

The reasons behind price inversion are complex. Understanding the logic behind price inversion is important for selecting yearling tea. In conversation with Hu Hao Ming, founder of Tea Horse Society, he believes that there are many reasons for the occurrence of price inversion in yearling tea.

For example, it could be due to the business model of tea companies, such as dealers selling certain yearling tea products urgently due to financial issues. In such cases, the quality of the tea might actually be good. Alternatively, it could be that after reaching a certain age, the quality of the tea is found to be average, and the holder sells it at a low price to cut losses timely. For older tea companies with a certain amount of yearling tea in reserve, the lower labor costs and tea procurement costs in previous years compared to now can still support profit margins even when yearling tea is priced lower than new tea. This is another reason for price inversion…

Besides the reasons listed above, more often than not, the cause of price inversion is not a problem with the yearling tea itself. Rather, around 2012, the popularity of the Puer tea mountain concept led to intense enthusiasm for the aroma, freshness, and mountain character of new teas, sharply raising the prices of new Puer teas, thus creating a significant difference from yearling teas.

The prices of benchmark yearling tea products deter most people, but there are many relatively cheaper yearling teas. Are there any specific methods for “filling the gap” with one's own daily consumption yearling tea?

Where to buy?

What channels are available for “filling the gap” with yearling tea purchases? Generally, they can be divided into private domain channels and public domain channels. From the perspective of the entire Puer tea industry chain, manufacturers, raw material suppliers, tea farmers, initial processing facilities, tea merchants, tea companies (including their distributors), etc., will likely have some yearling tea if they have been in the industry for three to five years or longer.

However, as ordinary consumers, we may not have familiar resources. Even if we try to develop them from scratch, it requires higher social costs and may not achieve the final goal.

Fortunately, the current online ecosystem is well-developed, especially in the e-commerce field, which has a significant impact on consumption. Starting from the booming Taobao e-commerce around 2012, followed by live streaming sales and interest-based e-commerce, online purchasing channels are comprehensive.

Whether it's manufacturers, raw material suppliers, tea farmers, initial processing facilities, tea merchants, or tea companies, there will always be those trying out online channels. With the help of big data and recommendation mechanisms, finding them is relatively easy. On the other hand, many live streaming teams with good traffic have entered the Puer tea industry in recent years.

According to Xiao Gu (a pseudonym), the head of a team responsible for brand tea sales operations a few years ago, since last year, the platform has started reshuffling through measures like changing recommendation mechanisms and emphasizing the authenticity of user feedback. Teams engaging in quick profits are being gradually eliminated from the market, leaving only those dedicated to carefully selecting quality goods.

This is good news for consumers. As for Puer tea platforms like “Donghe Tea” and “Zhaozhao Tea” that have been operating for a longer time, they mostly deal in transactions of